[Esophageal injury after insertion of a transesophageal echocardiography probe in a patient with an aberrant right subclavian artery].

ABSTRACT

We describe a case of an esophageal injury caused by insertion of a transesophageal cardiac echo probe in a 66-year-old man with an aberrant right subclavian artery, who was scheduled for Bentall surgery for aortic regurgitation and annuloaortic ectasia. Preoperative CT scan showed an aberrant right subclavian artery compressed from the back of the esophagus. General anesthesia was induced with midazolam and fentanyl, and maintained with midazolam, remifentanil and fentanyl. After induction of anesthesia, a transesophageal cardiac echo probe was inserted without abnormal resistance. The operation was performed uneventfully. On the second day after surgery, gastrointestinal bleeding was suspected and the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIF) was performed. GIF revealed ulceration at the mid-esophagus and gastroesophageal junction, and a large amount of fresh blood in the stomach. The location of the ulcer at mid-esophagus was likely to be over the aberrant right subclavian artery. Ulcers were treated conservatively. GIF on the postoperative day 16 revealed that ulcers had healed. Transesophageal echo probe insertion is potentially hazardous in a patient with an aberrant right subclavian artery. Although aberrant right subclavian artery is rare, transesophageal echocardiography should be performed with extreme caution.